The Salem Witches' Institute
by ggwweenn1
Summary: Vega Bloom was just a 14 year old girl going into a normal school in NYC with nor worries and no en, over the summer, she got a letter delivered by an owl that said she was a witch. So she packed her bags and left home for the experience of a lifetime at The Salem Witches' Institute. **takes place in HP universe but contains no cannon characters or any cannon plot points**
1. The Magic Amtrack

"Can I sit here?" I asked the three girls in the train compartment. One of the girls, a pretty blonde thing who looked like she had a fake nose, gave me a once over and a snarky smile.

"Not unless you're a metamorphmagus." She said, causing her friends to giggle. I gave them a sickly sweet smile.

"Thats alright, I'll go find some bitches, whoops witches, with real faces to sit with. Have a nice trip." I said, heading down the next compartment. This one was occupied by a girl and a boy who were arguing. They stopped when they saw me and gave me a smile. The boy spoke up immediately.

"Yes you can sit here. We heard those Royals giving you a hard time. We'll help you get them back." He said. I sat down next to him, facing the girl. The girl was giving him a look. "My name is Felix Felicis the twelfth, and this is my sister Fortuna Felicis. We are both freshmen. How about you?" He said, tossing a handful of m&ms into his mouth.

"I'm Vega Bloom, I'm a freshman as well. I thought The Salem Witches Institute was an all girls school. Where are you attending, Felix?" I asked. I got on at the train's second to last stop, so it was likely that they came from the south.

"The Pocono Wizards' Academy is Salem's brother school. I thought the whole world knew that." Fortuna said, slightly intrigued by my lack of knowledge.

"Well I'm new to this world, sorry." I said. She laughed.

"Wow Fe, you do know how to pick them." She said to her brother. I raised an eyebrow. She turned back to me. "Before you came over, me and Fe were discussing who you could be. We know almost all the wizarding families on the eastern seaboard, so you were either from the west or muggle born, now we know which." She said. I looked down at my hands. From what I had read, muggle borns were generally treated as lesser by pure blooded magic users. I'd hoped nobody would notice, but i guess it was obvious. I felt Felix put his hand on my back.

"She doesn't mean that in a bad way, we were just curious. Birth doesn't mean anything. Shit. Why did you even bring it up!" He hissed at his sister while rubbing little circles on my back. "Just look at Hermione Granger, she was muggle born and the Battle of Hogwarts would have been lost without her." He rambled on.

"Fe, you're making it worse. Lets just drop it. I'll get you your first chocolate frog card from the trolley, you will love it." Fortuna said just as the trolley rolled up to our door.

The trolley was ladened with three tiers of treats from jelly beans to things I had never seen before. It was colorful and shiny and made of happiness. I was a literal kid in a candy store. I just observed Fortuna as she ordered three boxes of every flavor beans and fifteen chocolate frogs.

Then Felix handed the trolley lady a box and a note.

"Can you please deliver this to the pretty blonde girl in the next cart, I have a thing for her, but it want to keep it a secret for now." He said to her quietly. The trolley lady laughed and took the box.

"Young love the way it should be." She said as she went to the girls cart. We heard her give the girl the box and then we heard her read the note.

"When I saw you at the train station, I was blinded by your radiant beauty. Please accept these sugar-free fat-free nougats as a token of my affections. With love, your Slate sophomore." She read.

The other girls "awww"ed. Fortuna and Felix doubled over in silent laughter. I looked at them curiously. Fortuna held up a hand to indicate that i should wait. After a few minutes we heard a scream. Then we saw the girl walk down the hall, her nose gushing blood. I cracked up.

"How did you do that?" I asked through my laughter. Felix pulled himself together enough to tell me.

"Nosebleed nougat, I had it shipped over from Hogsmeade just for this prank." He divulged.

"What did you have against her? Besides her being mean to me, I mean." I asked. He shook his head.

"Its not about her. Its about the Royals and Slates and the Silver and Brass. The houses." He said. I might have understood, but it didn't really make any sense. Fortuna could see my mild confusion.

"Its a feud. We, the Brass and Silver, hate the Royal and Slate. They are all pure or near pure blooded, wealthy, prestigious, and rude. They treat us like second class citizens." She said.

"I think I got it. Then shouldn't you guys be Royal and Slate, you are well known?" I said. She shrugged.

"Nope. Mom's a muggle born. Dad's mom's a muggle born. We may be rich and well known, but we don't have the pedigree." Felix said, making a face about the bean he just ate.

"What was that one?" Fortuna asked Felix.

"Beats me. I think it was white glue or original chapstick." He said. I went to grab a bean, curious about how "every flavor" they were. I popped the bean in my mouth and chewed.

"Mine tastes like steak." I said. Fortuna nodded.

"You are lucky. Once I had one that tasted like dishwasher. It was the worst."She said, tossing me a chocolate frog. "Open that and put it directly in your mouth. Don't let it get away." She added.

I opened the box and the frog started moving. I put the open box to my mouth and tipped it to get the frog in my mouth. The chocolate was pretty standard fare, but i guess the moving frog part was all the reason they were so cool.

"Who did you get?" Fortuna asked.

"What?" I responded. Just then there was a knock at our carriage door. A boy and a girl were standing there, smiling.

"Lilac! I haven't seen you guys in forever! This is Vega, we just met her a little while ago after some Royals called her ugly. Vega this is Lilac, she is a junior." Fortuna said, scooting over so the newcomers could sit down.

"Its lovely to see you two, and it is lovely to meet you Vega. This is my best friend Danny, he's a sophomore." She said, introducing the boy she had shown up with. I ate my beans while they all caught up. I now got a really good look at Fortuna and Felix.

They were both faintly tan, as if they had been outside just enough this summer. They had hazel eyes, narrow noses, broad shoulders, and sun-kissed brown hair. Fortuna's hair was pulled into a high ponytail that ended at her waist, while Felix's hair was swishy and went don't to his eyebrows. Lilac had the same hazel eyes as the twins, but was different in every other way. She had a blonde bob and fairy like figure. Danny looked all his own with cropped black hair, a square jaw, and bright blue eyes.

"Earth to Vega! Danny asked you about your summer." Felix said, poking me in the arm.

"First of all, saying Earth to Vega is going to be really funny to everyone who knows astronomy. Second of all, I had a very nice summer of engineering camp before my parents called me home and told me I was magical. Then i spent the rest of the summer learning the basics of the wizarding world and potions." I told Danny. He looked at me curiously.

"What kind of engineering?" He asked, taking a bean from my box.

"Marine engineering." I told him. He seemed totally interested in my muggle studies.

"Were you designing anything in particular?" He asked. I nodded. Everyone else was just looking at us confused.

"Yes. We were working on designing a man-powered deep sea submarine." I told him. He nodded.

"Thats cool. I find muggle technology very fascinating. Its rate of development and improvement far outpaces that of magic." He said. I nodded.

"I agree. As cool as magic is, the magical world could stand to be more efficient. Your transportation and communication is antiquated. A jet plane can go ten times the speed of a broom and i get an email from the other side of the world in an instant. It would take an owl a week or more to deliver a letter that distance." I expressed. Fortuna rolled her eyes.

"Well can technology make you lucky? Or teleport you by simply touching an object? Or make someone love you?" She retorted. I raised an eyebrow.

"No, not yet, and arguably." I sassed back. Felix put a hand on my shoulder and made a down motion towards Fortuna.

"Ladies calm down. Both tech and magic have their advantages." He said. I shrugged his hand off my shoulder and sulked for the rest of the train ride.

When we felt the train come to a start, they all stood up and stretched. They left their candy on the table and their suitcases in the racks and left the carriage.

"Guys, what about our stuff?" I asked as they walked towards the doors.

"It'll show up in our rooms later, no worries." Lilac explained. What the fuck.

"How does that work? We don't even have our room assignments yet! How will they make sure we get the right bags?" I exclaimed. Fortuna Turned around and winked at me.

"It's Magic."


	2. The Not So Smooth Ride

"My name is Mademoiselle Delacour, freshmen for Salem Witches' Institute follow me." Called a tall, blonde, beautiful woman with a french accent. She stood in front of a stream that had four rafts with lights floating on it. I started towards her but stopped when I heard another voice behind me.

"Names Oak, freshmen for Poconos fall behind me in a single line." I turned towards these words to see a man with the body of a Great Plains Stallion. I was in awe, but was snapped out of it by Fortuna tugging on my arm.

We boarded the last raft and started slowly down the stream. It was quiet and dark except for the laughter and lanterns we left behind us. Now all we could see was the two feet in front of the raft that our small light allowed; and what I could see were rapids.

I feel the spray before the raft dipped, soaking my shoes. Fortuna and the other girls were all clinging to the lamp and the rigging post for dear life, but I stood calm in the center.

"Vega are you crazy? You could fall off!" Fortuna shouted of the rushing water.

"Naw son, I'll be fine. A little water never hurt anybody." I called back. She shook her head.

"Water won't hurt you, but nereids sure as hell will." SHe told me. Not that I knew what a nereid was.

"What's are ne-" I was cut on by a bump that knocked me off my feet and off the raft. I guess I would find out was nereids where when they ate me. Then I realized that, as fast moving as the water was, it was only two feet deep. I waded to the shore as I watched the raft, and my only friend in the wizarding world, speed away.

When I reached the shore I tried to get my bearings. I assumed I was somewhere in Massachusetts, but other than that I was lost. We could either be in the east or west because the Poconos are west but Salem is east. Judging by the density of the forest, we were probably closer to the Poconos. That meant it was a long walk to Salem.

I began following the water until we came to a fork, luckily there was a sign that read "lost little witches can fly to the institute, if they think they're good enough." followed by what i believe was a clipart image of a girl on a broom. Under the sign was a broom.

Ok, so I had no clue how to fly a broom. I bet this was some sort of cruel joke. They know only muggle borns would be stupid enough to fall overboard, so they are poking fun at the fact that they can't fly yet. Even if it was a joke, its still my only way to school. So, as I am no lady, I put the broom between my legs and waited. Nothing happened.

How do they do it in movies? I suppose they generally close their eyes and smile. But why did they smile? They thought happy thoughts! I think. So I did. I thought about my parents and how happy they were that I was special. I thought about my completely normal friends back home that thought i was at a super prestigious all-girls boarding school. I thought about how much I needed this to work so I could to to fucking witch school. Then I opened my eyes.

The broom was holding me a couple inches above the ground. I curled up my legs so my ankles were touching the broom head and leaned forward, assuming that would cause me to go forward.

I lurched forward then stopped, then lurched forward again. I tried a more moderate lean and went forward at a steady pace. I followed the right fork thinking _right is right. _I was going faster than the water below me, and would probably catch up with the rafts in no time.

When I reached the rafts, they were docked and empty. I looked around but couldn't find any paths through the woods or see any buildings. I flew up and did a 360 before noticing what looked like a ruined mansion. I heard Felix talking about the charm that makes the schools look run down to muggles, so I supposed that was it and the charm would wear off when I got closer.

As I approached the lights seemed to appear out of a fog and the foliage fell off the building as if it had never been there at all. I saw the other students walking through the thrown open double doors. I nose dived towards the crowd, pulling up at the last second and landing. I dismounted the broom and turned towards the other freshmen.

The girls looked shocked. Mademoiselle Delacour looked unimpressed. She turned away and continued into the mansions foyer. I held the broom in one hand while i moved through the group to find Fortuna. When I found her she was ecstatic.

"If I had known going overboard would grant me such a beautiful entrance, I would have gone with you." She whispered while we walked through the quiet main hall. We giggled as we walked up to a large set of closed double doors.

"Now ladies, the headmistress is going to say a few words, then you will be sorted. Remember to stay perfectly silent while your headmistress is talking." Mademoiselle Delacour hissed at us before throwing open the doors. She lead us in and walked right up onto the scaffold, where a straight backed chair stood with nothing but a worn out purple witches' hat on it's Delacour cleared her throat.

"Before we being the ceremony, or headmistress would like a word."


	3. The House is Where The Heart Lies

"Welcome to The Salem Witches' Institute, North America's largest and most prestigious school for witchcraft. I'm your headmistress Meredith McGonagall, and I would like to start off the semester with a few brief announcements." The whole hall groaned, and I knew that the announcements would be dull and anything but brief.

"First off, and I can not stress this enough, there is to be no leaving campus without approval from your dorm advisor. Up until last year we had turned a blind eye, but due to last years unfortunate incident we can no longer afford such leniency.

Second, tryouts for the varsity and jv quidditch team will start next week. All years are allowed to tryout for either team; no priority will be given to former team members, they must prove their skills just like everyone else. The first match will be in three Fridays against The Poconos Wizards Academy." She declared. The hall erupted into cheers. I didn't understand what all the fuss was about. I had been reading up on quidditch, the schools only sport, since my letter arrived and it didn't seem like anything to shout about. It was like dangerous, flying, rugby. With the added bonus of a snitch.

"Third, we are hosting the Halloween black and white masquerade ball. You may invite friends who go to any different wizarding schools, however muggles are strictly forbidden as dates. All of the boys from the brother school will be in attendance.

"Lastly, there is to be no use of cellphones for non-emergency situations while you are on campus. Other than that, lets commence with the sorting." She said clapping her hands together. Mademoiselle Delacour stepped forward with a scroll.

"When I call your name you will sit in the chair, I shall place the hat on your head, and you will be sorted into your houses. Amora de Montmorency." She called. The bitchy blond girl with blood all down her uniform went and sat in the chair. Mademoiselle placed the hat on her head and suddenly its fols became a face. It opened its mouth and it had an awful New Jersey accent.

"What happened to you? Someone break your new nose? I guess daddy's money make you... ROYAL" The hat shouted. The Royal table clapped politely to welcome their new member.

"Fortuna Felicis" was the next name called. My fast friend squeezed my arm before walking ahead and sitting in the chair. The hat laughed.

"Girl, you're a tough one. I'll put you where I put your mother. SILVER." The hat announced. The Silver table had a vastly different reaction to their new member. They all stood up and hooted and hollered for the new girl. This went on for about ten minutes; the hat was sassy, the Royals were polite, the Silvers were rowdy. When they got to my name I had the count at six Royals and eight Silvers. I went up, sat on the chair and had the hat placed on my head. It didn't speak for a moment. I could almost hear a clock ticking.

"Bitchy and self-centered enough for a Royal, but lacks the motivation to make others feel inferior. She's SILVER." The hat chimed. I went to sit down with Fortuna.

When the sorting finished Fortuna and I got associated with the rest of the freshmen at our table while digging into the opening feast.

"Camille You, San Francisco." Said the asian girl with big boobs and flawless skin.

"Molly West, Boston." Said the girl with pink hair and a nose ring.

"Holly West, Boston." Said the girl with the gravity defying black beehive.

"Courtney Platt, Rural Kentucky." Said the tall girl with freckles and a long blond braid.

"Fortuna Felicis, Washington D.C." Said my friend.

"Vega Bloom, New York." Said I.

"Samantha Dean, The Colorado Rockies." Said the perfectly forgettable girl.

"Hannah Jackson, Coastal Georgia." Said the short girl who was all curves.

"Drew Freedman, Columbus." Said the girl with dark skin and cornrows.

"Edith Masters, Montana."Said the beautiful girl with a head of red curls. After that last introduction we all ate in peaceful silence until Hannah spoke up with her mouth full.

"What's up their ass? Its not even the first day of class and they think they are the hottest girls on the block." She mumbled loudly. Fortuna swallowed her huge mouthful of food before responding.

"They think we're shit because we don't have money and lineage. They are just pureblood elitist." She stated. Camille swallowed her food.

"What's a pureblood?" She inquired. Samantha nodded. Holly answered this time.

"People whose entire family tree is made of wizards and witches. As opposed to a muggle-born, someone with no wizards or witches in their tree." She finished. Molly nodded.

"Everyone else is a half-blood. Half-bloods like Holly and I are a mix of muggle and magic user." She said before taking a huge swig of butterbeer. We all laughed and joked about old Professor Scamander eyeing Mademoiselle Delacour so attentively that he spilled his drink. I could see why he was ogling though, she was beautiful and had an air of perfection. I couldn't take my eyes off her after I started staring.

"Earth to Vega, our head girl is taking us to our rooms!"Fortuna said, pulling me out of my trance. I stood up, smoothing my skirt. We all wore black, white, and grey pleated skirts with black blouses. We all had beautiful white cloaks for when it got cold, which would probably be in a few weeks, knowing New England weather. We were supposed to be getting ties to match our house, but we hadn't even been to our rooms yet so there was no way we could have had them to wear to the banquet.

We walked up down one of the halls adjacent to the entry hall until we reached what felt like the north corner of the house. We went up the spiral staircase to the third floor while our head girl told us about the school and the house.

"So the school has three, well technically four perfectly square floors. On random intervals, or maybe whenever someone visits the headmistress's office as my friend Carly suspects, the floors will turn. You won't feel it or even notice it if you aren't in a room with a window. You probably won't know it has happened until you try to go to your next class." She said as we entered a lush silver and black parlor. We continued walking towards a hall lined with portraits and doors. Oddly, all the paintings seemed to look like they were getting ready for bed.

On an unrelated note, Miss Chance Hilliard is our dorm advisor. She takes all complaints, even though nothing gets done about it, she is who you talk to if you want to leave campus, which she almost never lets you do, and she is the best shoulder to cry on in this whole school. She really cares for her house, even if she can be a bit strict. Oh look, we are at your rooms." She explained. She pulled a sheet of paper out from under her black, stereotypical witch hat.

"Bloom, Dean, Felicious, Freedman, and Jackson, black door. Masters, Platt, West, West, and You, white room. Your bags, house-wear, and schedules will be on your beds. See you at breakfast ladies." She read from the paper. She walked down the hall, leaving us to our own devices. I followed my housemates through a black door set onto a black wall. The opposing wall was white with a white door swinging closed behind its new occupants.

"Vega got the good bed!" Drew wined from behind me. I turned, closing the door behind me and looked at her. The bed with my bags on it was by the wall with the window and practically invisible from the doorway. I didn't see what was so great about it.

"She did. She can do whatever she wants over there." Samantha said.

"What?" I replied as I took off my black maryjanes. Fortuna rolled her eyes.

"Faculty can't enter student rooms. Faculty can't see your bed from the doorway. If they can't catch you in the act, you can do whatever you want." She said, taking her clothes out of her bag and putting them in the drawers at the end of her bed. She left out a pair of boy shorts and a cropped t-shirt.

While she and the rest of the girls changed into their less than modest pajamas I pulled on my black boxer shorts and forest green camisole. I finished unpacking, hung up my gown and "semi-formal" dress up in the communal closet, and settled into bed with a copy of The Notebook. After only a few minutes my book was taken from my hands and placed on my nightstand.

"No nerd stuff tonight. We are going to play truth or dare." Fortuna scolded, pulling me onto her bed. The other three girls were on Hannah's bed. Drew clapped her hands.

"I'll go first! Someone ask me!" She squealed. I decided to speak up.

"Truth or Dare?" I asked.

"Dare!" She shouted, smaking her hands over her mouth. I had the best one, but it might not work.

"I dare you to send a picture of your butt to one of the boys." I told her. She shook her head.

"I don't have any boy's numbers, so I can't really do that." She replied. Felicia pulled out her phone.

"Luckily, I have a twin brother. Here is his number." She added, tossing her phone to Drew. She sighed, entered the number in her phone and stood up. She took the picture with minimal giggles from the peanut gallery and thumped back onto the bed.

"Now, what to caption it?" She asked. We all thought for a moment before she started typing. She showed it to everyone before sending it. Merry First Day, love Drew (Fortuna, Vega, Hannah and Samantha)

We all cracked up and continued playing while waiting for a reply. I learned that Samantha had a boy back home and that Fortuna was terrified of horses. I also got to see Hannah kiss Drew and I got to eat a mixed handful of every flavor beans. It was fun. Just before Hannah could decide on truth or dare, Drew's message tone went off. She scrambled for the phone and opened the text. She showed it around. It depicts five pairs of boxer briefs over five very well toned asses. It was captioned take your pick. Fortuna shuddered.

"One of those belongs to my brother." She gagged. We laughed. Hannah clasped Fortuna's hands in hers.

"Tuna, can I have your blessing to tap your brother's ass." She requested, looking fortuna dead in the eye. Fortuna sighed.

"I guess I can't stop you." She said. We laughed again. I checked the clock one of the girls mounted above the door. We had gotten back from dinner at seven and it was now ten.

"I think we should turn in. I don't want to be tired on the first day of classes." I told them. Samantha nodded in agreement.

"She's right. I can not have bags under my eyes on the first day." She said. That wasn't quite what I meant but I was thankful for the support. We all climbed into our respective beds and turned out the lights on opening day.


	4. First Day of The Rest of Your Life

"I can't believe I forgot my curler!" I heard in my dazed state. I opened my eyes to see three girls sitting on their beds, fully dressed and playing on their smartphones. Drew was nowhere to be found.

"Vega, I'm so glad your up. I want to see how long it takes you to get ready. Ready set go!" Fortuna said, pulling me out of bed. If this was a race, then I would win.

I grabbed a black blouse, plaid skirt, and underwear from my drawers and went into the bathroom. I had put my shower stuff in there last night, so I didn't waste time with finding those. I did a quick body shower without getting my hair wet and slipped into my uniform. I went to the mirrors and pulled my blonde hair into a twist, secured with 2 chopsticks and my wand. I put on concealer, flicked on some winged eyeliner, and swiped on some silver mascara. I came out of the bathroom less than ten minutes after entering. Fortuna clapped.

I put my books in my shoulder bag and sat down on my bed. Everyone in the room was ready, but Hannah was still missing. Nobody else seemed worried, but I was still going to ask.

"Has anyone seen Drew this morning?" I questioned. They all looked around as if they hadn't noticed she was gone. They must have been too concerned with their hair.

"No actually. Maybe she just went to explore or take an early breakfast or something." Hannah said, going back to her game of candy crush. Fortuna looked more worried. We heard a knock on our door. Holly and Molly poked their heads into the room.

"There is something you guys need to see." Holly started.

"It isn't pretty." Molly added. We all grabbed our bags and followed them out of the door and down the hall. We went down the stairs and miraculously ended up where we wanted to be, the entry hall.

Drew and Courtney Platt were sitting in the chandelier. They looked like they had been rolled in silver glitter. Courtney was crying and Drew was hurling curses and spitting at Royals that laughed below her. Just then a short woman in bright red robes flowed down the stairs and into the hall. She gasped at the spectacle before her. She whipped out her wand and floated Drew and Courtney down from the chandelier. She put her arms around both of them and hugged them tight.

"Get to breakfast. I don't want you starting on an empty stomach." She snapped. She started whispering with Drew and Courtney as I walked into the dining hall. I sat down where I had sat last night and filled the empty plate that was there with bacon and chocolate chip pancakes.

After a few minutes of restlessness in the hall, the woman in red stormed in with a cleaned up Drew and Courtney in tow. She walked up to the platform and stood before the headmistress.

"Professor Hillard. What can I do for you?" Mcgonagall asked placidly.

"Somebody harassed my freshmen." She stated at a near shout. Mcgonagall looked slightly less placid.

"Tell me what happened ladies." She asked Drew and Courtney. Professor Hillard stepped out of the way and my classmates stepped forward.

"Well we went to sleep in our dorms, and woke up in the chandelier." Drew started.

"There were three girls standing below us one of them said 'it needs more' and then another one threw a glitter bomb at us." Courtney finished. The headmistress nodded and stood.

"Well, since both these girls are Silver I am going to assume this attack was from the Royal house. Fifty points from Royal." She announced before sitting down. There was an uproar from the Royal table. I watched as ten black gems fell into the left compartment of a container behind the teacher table.

I saw some of the older girls at our table look at each other with knowing smiles. Maybe things weren't as cleanly explained as they had seemed to be. But why would someone sabotage their housemates?


	5. Classes: Day 1

After breakfast ended and we were told to shuffle off to class, I confronted Fortuna about my observance at breakfast.

"Thats ridiculous. Why would the older Silvers torment their own house? Unless they wanted to get the Royals in trouble, but that would be an absurd length to go for a few negative points." She said as we slipped into Transfiguration with Professor Hillard.

"Well lets jump right into the material. I'm assuming you are all either already acquainted or do not care to be acquainted. For any of you who missed breakfast this morning, I am Professor Hillard, head of Silver house. Please open your books to page three and begin taking notes on the basics of transfiguration. When you are done, come see me for your first assignment." Our teacher said as she strode into the room.

I took notes at a record pace, ready to get into some practical magic, and was the first student to bring the work up to her. She glanced at it before handing my book back along with a needle. She pointed at the board for further instruction. It read simply _needle to match, to be completed by the end of the week_.

I returned to my desk, returning my text and my notebook to my bag. I took my wand out from where it had been skewered in my hair and let down my blonde waves. Apparently, all I had to do was focus on what I wanted the needle to become and tap it with my wand. I envisioned a matchstick right where the needle was and tapped the needle with my wand.

I did not reach the desired outcome. All I got was a match tipped needle. Which was close, but no dice. I tried until the bell, my closest attempt being a wooden stick with red paint. I probably would have finished, if it weren't for the classes five Royals giggling and pointing at Drew for the duration of the class. On our way out of the room, the Royals shoved past us as if we were ghosts.

After transfiguration we had Charms with Professor Lemus. After Charms was lunch. Then we had History of Magic with the five Royals we had yet to encounter, taught by the ghost of Missus Bishop who was executed in the Salem witch trials. Then Defence Against the Dark Arts was attended by all the girls in the year and instructed by a former Auror who insisted upon being called Savage. Lastly Divination, which was mixed between years and taught by Professor Delacour. Then we were free to start on the momentous stack of homework that had been assigned.


	6. Meet the Men

I had to practice the Wand Lighting charm, complete a packet of notes on the first chapter of _The History of Magic, _memorize the proper defensive technique for use against fire crabs, and memorize the thirty most common symbols of tasseography. All due on Wednesday.

I sat down in the Silver house lounge area with my textbooks and reading glasses and started on my work. I was merely a page into Missus Bishop's assignment when Fortuna stumbled into the room. She closed my books and laid across the table in front of me.

"What is a pretty girl like you doing cooped up on a beautiful day like today? You should be outside gossiping and practicing your practical witchcraft and flying. You have your own broom don't you?" She inquired. I nodded. "Then grab it from the room and meet me outside in ten."She finished. She got off the table and left towards the stairs.

I sighed, taking my books back the room. I grabbed my custom broomstick from the closet and headed downstairs, where I found myself in a part of the school I had yet to explore. Not feeling the need to navigate through this maze of a school. I pushed open the nearest window and made my exit in that way. I found myself right where I wanted to be, on the green hill that sloped down to the garden and the greenhouse. Fortuna, Drew, Holly, and Molly were all leaning on their broomsticks and laughing. I went over and joined in their conversation.

"Look up." Molly commanded. I obliged and was thrilled to see Felix and four other boys hovering twenty or so feet above the grounds. The girls and I hopped on our brooms and soared up into the air to meet them.

"Felix!" Fortuna said, hugging her brother. He hugged her back.

"I'm missing you already too, sis" He said. He wheeled his broom around to give introductions of his gang of friends. "Let me introduce Nick, Austin, Connor, and Trenton, my roommates."

I analyzed the boys as Fortuna gave introductions of us girls. Nick had dark skin and hair, a square nose, broad torso, and a jaw that might have been hewed from marble. Austin was chubby, had a very deep tan and dark hair. Connor was shorter than the other boys and had a shock of red hair, bright green eyes, freckles, a button nose, and a killer smile. He caught me examining him and winked. Trenton looked rather average with his mild tan, brown hair, hazel eyes, and standard teenage boy body. Nick clapped his hands and gained my attention.

"Who wants to have a race?" He said. I raised my hand to signal my approval.

"Lets make it a girls vs. guys relay race." Drew challenged. Nick smirked.

"Your on. From here to the far end of the garden and back. Each team member has to do a lap." He looked around on the ground for someone to judge and happened to see Mr. Scamander. "Mr. Scamander, could you officiate our race?" He asked. Mr Scamander laughed and nodded.

"Alright. Are both teams ready?" We all affirmed. He raised his hand. "On my mark, get set, go!" He said, dropping his arms. Nick and Drew raced off, Nick taking a slight lead. I was second to go and anxiously awaited Drews tag.

When she hit my hand I raced off, leaning forward so much I was practically lying on my broom. When I reached the end of the garden I did a 180 and headed back at the same breakneck speed. When I tagged Holly I realized that I had given us a sufficient lead. In all the excitement I hadn't noticed how fast I must have actually been flying.

It was now down to Felix and Fortuna. My lead seemed to have been undone by Connor and Trenton, making the last leg of the race a real nailbiter. Every time it looked like Fort had gotten ahead, Felix started to accelerate. They were less than ten feet from the finish when Fortuna sped up, but not enough to beat Felix, who was just a tad bit too far ahead. The boys erupted in cheers as Mr Scamander announced their win.

"The winners of todays speed flying match in the Poconos Wizarding Academy. Thats all from me folks." He said, turning and continuing to the forest where he had been heading before we pulled his aside. I saw Drew roll her eyes.

"We would have won if that bird hadn't hit Molly!" She shouted. Now it was Nick's turn to roll his eyes.

"We would have finished a lap ahead if that beautiful blonde hadn't been such a top notch flyer. The rest of you were just team fillers in comparison." He said with a wink in my direction. I smirked.

"I'm more than just a pretty face, and I have a name. Vega Bloom, most definitely not at your service." I snarked before diving at the ground, setting myself horizontal just moments before I would have rammed into the ground. I coast inches from the ground until I reach the front doors. I smoothly get off my broom and head inside. I had homework to finish.


End file.
